93 people responded to our web-based survey on eWorking. Many thanks to Marketing Partners Ltd. for their help with analysing the answers.

Respondents came from a wide range of enterprise sectors, with Telecomms/IT topping the list at 25%[1], next came Financial Services with 13% and Business Services and the Public sector both with 10%. No other sector had more than 10% of respondents.

The sample

•         All age-groups were represented in the sample 
•         The largest was the 35-45 year old age group (31%)
•         The least represented age-group was 45-50 year olds (11% of the sample)
•         Senior and Middle managers from non-Financial/Admin or Sales/Marketing positions were the most highly represented categories of job functions (13% and 11%)
•         The least represented group was Junior Sales/Marketing managers at just 2%
•         Most respondents (44%) worked in companies of over 50 employees
•         19% worked in small companies of less than 5 people
•         The majority (57%) spend up to one hour a day travelling to and from work. One third spend between two and four hours.

The state of eWorking today

•         85% of respondents were aware of people in their organisation who regularly worked away from the workplace. Just 14% of workers were unaware of such people
•         63% indicated that there was no formal e-working policy at their workplace. Even where people were known to eWork in the organisation, 61% had no formal policy.
•         51% of people surveyed do not e-work
•         Most people who eWork do so between 1 and 5 days per month

The demand measured in this survey (97% pro eWork) considerably exceeds the EU Commission’s expectation that two out of three people would like to avail of eWorking. We can reasonably put this anomaly down to the self selection of our respondents. Nevertheless, some of our findings are insightful.

Attitudes to eWorking.

There was no significant correlation between
•         Attitudes towards the feasibility of e-working
•         Satisfaction potential of e-working
•         Performance-enhancing potential of e-working
•         Intentions to e-work

and
 
•         Age
•         Length of commute to and from work
•         Work Location
•         Job function
•         Employer Support
•         Existence of a formal policy

The Enterprise Sector, however, does seem to have a significant effect on several attitudes towards e-working. It significantly influenced agreement to the following statements:[2]

•          “My entire job is suitable for e-working”
•          “I’d be more likely to join a company that offered e-work”
•          “I’d swap my next salary increase for the opportunity to e-work”
 
There were a low number of respondents from some sectors.  One cannot, therefore, be confident that these respondents are representative of their enterprise sector.
 
In general, therefore, the following attitudes are broadly representative 
 
•         80% of respondents (76% of non-eWorkers) felt that working nearer to home would improve their quality of life. 12% overall (13% of non-eWorkers) thought it wouldn’t.
•         76% of respondents (76% of non-eWorkers) felt that working from home would improve their quality of life. 14% overall (11% of non-eWorkers) thought it wouldn’t.
•         86% of respondents (83% of non-eWorkers) felt that at least 20% of their job was suitable for eWorking.




This suggests that non-eWorkers may tend to underestimate the amount that they can get done away from the office.
 
•         86% of respondents (83% of non-eWorkers) felt that at least 20% of their job was suitable for eWorking.
•         30% of respondents (7% of non-eWorkers) feel that their employer encourages eWorking.
•         65% of all respondents (33% of non-eWorkers) think that eWorking reduces stress.
 
Potential impact on business


•         51% of respondents know of someone who has left their organisation in the last 12 months, either in order to relocate or to take a job closer to home (Only 26% say this hasn’t happened).

The expense of recruiting and training new staff, together with the disruption often caused by someone leaving, are significant costs to any business, but are seldom measured.

•         95% of those not eWorking would like to do so at least one day per month with 23% wanting to eWork more than half the time.

 On average, people would like to eWork for about 10 days a month. Between 2 and 3 days a week is generally accepted as being the optimum period to eWork. It maximises the work-life and productivity benefits of eWorking and minimises any social, management and career issues.

 •         73% of non-eWorkers believe that their home is a suitable place to work.

Nevertheless, employers need to check that, not only is the eWorkplace free of distraction but that it is sufficiently equipped to allow the eWorker to do their job effectively and that it’s safe.

•         69% of all respondents would be more likely to join a company that offered eWork.

Most employers are suffering from the shortage of one skill or another. eWorking can give them an edge when recruiting. It can also bring old skills back to the jobs market in the form of mothers/carers and those with disability who otherwise are unable to travel to work

•         68% of all respondents (63% of non-eWorkers) are more likely to remain longer in their current employment if allowed to eWork. Only 7% overall (9%) of non-eWorkers felt that eWork would not help to retain them.

It’s clear from this, and previous studies, that eWorking can help build employee loyalty.

•         55% of all respondents (46% of non-eWorkers) believe that they would take less time off if able to eWork.

This is not the first study to show that eWorking significantly reduces absenteeism. Individuals will often put family ahead of business. Sometimes the business gets its time back, sometimes it doesn’t. In Ireland, businesses lose, on average, 9 working days a year for every employee.

•         59% of all respondents (56% of non-eWorkers) believe that they would be (or are) more productive eWorking. Only 8% (11% of non-eWorkers) thought they wouldn’t be.

Productivity is something that is often talked about but seldom measured. I’ve never seen a study, however, that doesn’t claim a significant improvement in productivity (sometimes by as much as 40%) as a result of eWorking.

•         Four of the five respondents who felt that eWorking increased their levels of stress reported that their employer had no formal eWork policy. Interestingly, the majority of them were still positive about other aspects of eWorking.

Employers need to ensure that their eWorkers are equipped to do their jobs effectively when working out of the office and that the expectations of managers, co-workers and customers are accurately set. Otherwise, eWorkers may become frustrated by the need to delay work until they’re back in the office or paranoid about what others are saying about them in their absence.

Considering potential problems before they occur and then agreeing ways to prevent them is the cornerstone of effective and satisfying eWorking.

•         60% of all respondents (53% of non-eWorkers) believe that eWorking improves the quality of work produced. Only 12% (15% of non-eWorkers) thought it wouldn’t.

As with increased productivity, improved quality is often subjective and unquantifiable, yet it’s a consistently reported benefit of eWorking.

•         41% of non-eWorkers would forego their next salary increase if they could eWork and only 26% said that they wouldn’t.

So, by allowing people to eWork, not only do employers get a happier, more productive, more efficient work-force, they can also cut costs.

Potential impact on the environment
 
•         37% spend between 2 and 4 hours each day that they travel to and from work. So, if they’re non-eWorkers, they’ll spend at a minimum, the 40 hours every month, travelling. That’s the equivalent of one working week.

•         57% commute by car.

I suspect that this will prove to be higher than the national average when the Central Statistics Office issues its census 2006 findings on traffic on the 15^th November.

In the meantime, if we imagine that two thirds of the working population worked from or near home half the time (the best case scenario) then, by estimating that 30% of all private vehicle traffic is caused by commuting, we can predict that

o       170 million litres of petrol would not be needed annually.
o       36 million litres of diesel would not be needed annually.
o       235 million euro would be saved by eWorking drivers each year
o       500,000 tonnes of CO2 would be kept out of our atmosphere.

If you are interested in estimating how much you could save by eWorking, click on the eWorker Savings Calculator.
 
Conclusion
 
Clearly, the size of the sample and the method of sampling are such that one cannot make claims for either the overall status of eWorking in Ireland or its demand. However, it’s clear that there is significant interest and a strong indication that the claims generally made for eWorking are legitimate.

It’s also interesting to note that, despite being equally enthusiastic about the prospect of eWorking, our non-eWorkers tended to underestimate the benefits compared to our eWorkers. It seems that you have to try it to truly believe in it.
 
Ranald Milne is Managing Director of eWork Solutions, who provide guidance and practical assistance in eWorking. All data referenced in this article can be found at www.eworksolutions.ie